Varna, Bulgaria - Tourist and Property Information Varna Featured in a Financial Times Article The city of Varna (population 314 539) is situated at the Bay of Varna, 470 km east of Sofia. Varna is the biggest city at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast and was once again named The Best City to Live in in Bulgaria in 2008. It is situated at the same latitude with Cannes, Nice, Monaco and Livorno. It is nestled in the deep valley between the Frengen Plateau and the Avren Plateau, where two lakes were formed during the polyotsen - the Beloslav Lake is to the west of the city and the other - Varna Lake is within the limits of the city itself. Varna is a city over 11 km long, its width, including the new residential quarters is nearly 9 km. The city is like an amphitheater and follows the curves of the Bay of Varna. It is surrounded by lots of gardens, vineyards and deciduous groves. Almost the whole territory is occupied with private country-houses and their small farms. The city is a regional administrative centre.

HISTORY Varna has a history that could be traced back for thousand years. Due to its favourable location and visibility of almost 270 degrees the small cape, which now hosts the sea station, was inhabited by an ancient Thracian tribe - Corbisy in their small fishermen's settlement. In 6th century BC a Greek polis (settlement) inhabited by colonists and settlers from Millet emerged here under the name of Odessos. The town became a fishing and farming colony and later on in the 5th century BC it turned into a real centre of commerce. Up to the Roman domination the Thracian god Darzalas was worshiped rather than the common gods Apollo and Dionyssus. Old Greek and Roman sources evidence that in Darzalas' honour processions, mysteries, games and competitions were organized. The town had been under the siege of the troops of Alexander of Macedonia in the middle of the 4th century BC but after the siege was put down the town was given autonomy within the limits of his Empire. After the uprising and its liberation during the rule of Lisimah the town re-established its supremacy at the north Black Sea coast.

Up to the 1st century BC it was an independent polis and minted coins with the effigy of its patron god. Conquered by Mark Lukulus' legions, it became a Roman regional centre of great importance. There the great epic poet of Rome Ovidii stayed in his way to the town of Tommy (nowadays Kyustendzha, Romania) where he was sent on exile. Gradually Odessos lost its supremacy in the region, which was then gained by the town of Martsianopolis (nowadays Devnya) founded by the Emperor Trayan. Being conquered and devastated several times during the barbarian invasions it was for some time within the Byzantine Empire then out of its territories. In 9th century it was already called Varna. It is supposed that the name originates from the horse people in Central Asia-toponymy (name of an area) and hydronymy (name of a water basin) in India (the river that runs into the Ganges at Varanassi) and from the concept of caste (colour).

After the numerous wars between Bulgaria and Byzantine, the town was included in the territory of Bulgaria in the beginning of the 13th century during the reign of King Kaloyan. Its defence system consisted of three strongholds: one - at the Cape Galata; other - at Cape St. Dimitar and the third, called Petrich was near the lake of Beloslav. Despite its reliable defense system, the town was conquered by the Turks in 1391 and it soon declined. In 1444, during the crusade of the Polish king Vladislav Yagello (Varnenchik) and the Hungarian leader Yanosh Huniady, the town was under the siege of the knights. Despite the fact that the troops of the Christian coalition fought bravely they suffered a complete defeat. The young king Vladislav was killed. The citizens of Varna built a mausoleum in his honour. In the course of time the town more and more acquired an Oriental outlook. Many Turks settled there. Mosques, konaks (town-halls) and Turkish baths were built. The construction of churches was strongly forbidden for a long time.

Varna became a mighty stronghold, which guarded the north-east borders of the Ottoman Empire and a commercial and craftsmen' centre of great importance. During the Russian-Turkish War in 1828 the town was conquered by the Russian troops and hold under their rule for some time. An uplift of the national spirit began in the next decades. Schools, community centres and churches were built. In 1878 Varna was finally liberated from Ottoman rule and became the most important Bulgarian seaport town. At the end of the 19th century it was connected with Sofia by railway. Many factories were opened, and industrial fishing was developing. Varna quickly established as a seaside resort as well, enhanced by the European fashion in architecture and water transport. Entertainment establishments and holiday houses were built. Varna won the fame of a favourite place for Bulgarian cultural elite. For a short time the city was renamed Stalin. After 1956 its previous name was reinstated. Varna became a centre of the North Black Sea coast and a starting point for the design and building of the numerous resorts around it. Marine business developed - from fishing to the transfer of goods between the East and the West.

Nowadays Varna is an industrial city - the third biggest one in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv. Landmarks. The Roman Spa are situated in the centre of the city. They were built in the 2nd century during the reign of the emperor Antony Pii and were abandoned in the 5th century during the barbarian invasion. After much research and restoration they are now preserved and are frequently visited by tourists and guests of the city. Pottery workshops were opened in the 14th century, and later on a small residential quarter was built. The Roman Bath dates back to the 3rd century. It is built on layers of stones and bricks, bound by a mixture of plaster and crumbled tiles and bricks. The walls are grouted with water resistant plaster, there are marble tiles on the floor and some of the premises were panelled in marble. In the 5th century the building was considerably extended and reconstructed due to the development of that part of the city. Nowadays it is a sight of tourist and archaeological interest. The Holy Virgin Cathedral is considered to be an emblem of the seaside capital of Bulgaria. It rises at the very city centre across from the theatre alley.

Buses start from the square in front of it to all the vicinities and to the airport. A Revival master in the manner of Petersburg architecture built the church in 1866. Not until 1910 was it sanctified because its building and icon painting took a lot of time. The woodcarving of the altar and the Episcopal stall are made by masters from the Debur school, Macedonia. The central wall paintings were completed in 1950. The St. Nikola Church is located near the Sea Garden Park and dates back to the 1866. It has very interesting wall paintings and ancient icons by masters, belonging to various icon- painting schools in Bulgaria. The Sea Garden Park is another emblem of Varna. It dates from the end of the 19th century, being finally completed in 1908. At that time the idea to place the busts of outstanding Revival figures in some of its valleys was accepted.

Nowadays there is an amphitheater; astronomic site, the first in the country, with an observatory, planetarium and a tower; many playgrounds for children, and a small channel, where they can practice rowing, as well as a pool for water wheels and a zoo. The open-air theatre is a place, where various activities take place. These include the Varna Days of Music, the world famous International Ballet Competition and Varna Summer - a trienalle of arts. The central sea baths and the beach are located beneath the Sea Garden Park. They were built in the beginning of the century and are equipped with a polyclinic, water- and mud-cure complex, two quays, several restaurants and disco clubs. The Russian Monument is in Primorski Park. It was erected in honour to the Russian soldiers who died in Varna in the War of Liberation. The Asparouh Bridge connects the city centre with the residential quarterss Asparouhovo and Galata. It is the longest bridge in Bulgaria and works on it are still under way. Here the local club for extreme sports organises Bungee jumps. To the east of the bridge the Bay of Varna and the Cape Galata could be seen.

To the west is the Varna Lake. The Clock Tower was built in 1880 and it rises across the cathedral. Beneath the cathedral is one of the branches of the Theatre of Drama and the Club of the culture activists. The Festival Complex is opposite the entrance of the Sea Garden Park. It is a modern building of aluminum, stone and glass. It has several stages, conference-halls, a big bazaar, and a sweet shop. Many exhibitions and festivals are held here as well as ballet and theatrical performances. The Sports Palace is located at the motorway to the resorts Golden Sands, St. Constantine and Albena. Competitions in over 30 sports games take place there; exhibitions are held; concerts and performances take place, too. The design of the palace is actual copy of the Palace of Culture in Lagos, Nigeria, built by Bulgarian experts. The Dolphinarium (Show-House) is one of the favourite attractions for children and guests of Varna. There are regular performances and demonstrations with the clever dolphins. Feeding the dolphins and taking pictures is allowed. Each year new stunts are performed here and the show gets more attractive, including performances by mime artists, clowns and actors.

The Theatre of Drama is in the city centre. It was built nearly a century ago after the fashion of Vienna. It houses a theatre, an opera and philharmonic halls. Its foundations were laid by actors in the French Army during the Crimean War in 1856. The first Bulgarian theatre performance of Bulgarian drama was performed here. Not far away is the Puppet Theatre, where the Golden Dolphin Festival of puppets takes place each year. MUSEUMS The Archaeological Museum is housed in a building that used to be a school during the Revival. Here visitors can see miniature models of pile dwellings from the Palaeolithic period; the hall to ancient arts and means of living; the hall to antique arts one of the biggest and most impressive collections in the country; some objects and church plate from the early ages of Christianity; objects of cult from the ancient Bulgarian ethnicity; the hall with exponents from the 13th-14th century, where the development of crafts at that time could be traced; the hall of Bulgarians applied arts and a lapidarium, where sarcophagi, tombstones, steels and tomb columns are displayed.

The museum holds some rare objects from Egypt, Greece, Babylon and the Mediterranean countries, which were transported to ancient Odessos via the trade routes. The Museum of National Revival is housed in a building from 1861, which was proclaimed a cultural monument. Patriotic citizens and scholars arranged the museum exhibition in 1959 and it has been enriched and extended many times. The original arrangement of St. Archangel Mihail Church can be seen on the ground floor. An impressive exhibition shows the struggle for religious enlightenment, national independence and the epic battles during the Russian-Turkish War of Liberation. The Naval Museum is in the Sea Garden Park and possesses all the important documents and equipment of Bulgarian Navy from its foundation in 1878 up to the present. The great scientist Karel Shkorpil founded it in 1923. There are cannons, old anchors, and sea vessels and so on in the yard of the museum. T he Vladislav Varnenchik Park-Museum is to the north-east of the city, near the crossroads for Sofia and Dobrich.

It was built in honour of the historical battle in 1444 when Czechs, Poles, Croatians, Hungarians and Bulgarians tried to resist the Turkish invasion in Europe. A mausoleum to Vladislav Varnenchik was built in 1934 on the foundations of an ancient Thracian tomb. The Ethnographic Museum is housed in a Revival house from the 19th century. A typical arrangement of the house of Varna in that time is shown. Many kinds of jewellery are displayed, as well as clothing, formal national costumes, everyday life items and goods manufactured goods in the city and its vicinities. The Museum of Nature and Science was founded in 1960 and it displays species typical of the Bulgarian flora and fauna. Geological and speleological miniature models show the stages of the formation of the lithosphere. There is a small board with the main kinds of stones and minerals. The exponents are displayed in three specialised halls - geology, flora and fauna. The Aquarium and the Black Sea Museum were opened in 1932 - the first and the only marine biological station in the country.

In 1954 the Scientific Research Institute on searelated issues, fishing and industrial fishing was opened with the Aquarium. Hundreds of fish species are gathered here: molluscs, actinides, crabs, periwinkles as well as species of the fresh water rivers. A special place is occupied by the natural resources derived from the Black Sea, such as sea salt and oil. The Museum of Medicine is the only one on the Balkan Peninsula. Medicinal plants and herbs are here on display, as well as surgical and other medical tools and clothing used in ancient times up till now. It was founded in 1869 as a private hospital with a small museum. The Museum of Art and History of Varna has an exceptionally rich collection, one of its exhibits being the Gold Treasure of Varna - dating back 6000 years ago it is the oldest processed gold found in the world. 281 tombs were found in a necropolis dating back to the Halcolith Age. One of them contained more than 3000 golden articles (statehood attributes, jewellery, adorning, etc.), of the total 6 kg weight. The Art Gallery was opened in 1950.

It possesses paintings by the most outstanding Bulgarian artists as well as pieces of work by numerous foreign artists, donated to the gallery by private persons. A branch of the museum is the Georgi Veltchev Museum-House, where canvases by the prominent artist of Varna are displayed. An exhibition of icon-paintings from the Revival is arranged in the St. Atanas Church, built in the 13th century near the Roman spa. The church itself is very original with its mural paintings and icons and with its carved altar and bishop's throne. There is a collection of wood-cuts, etchings, liturgical and canon books from Bulgarian Revival. Varna's festivals are large in number, the most popular of them being: the International Choir Gathering - at the end of May, International Theatre Holidays - a part of Varna Summer Festival - in June; part of the aforementioned festival is also the International Gathering of Orchestras and Classical Music Ensambles - in July; again as part of the festival is the Jam Session in July and August.

Other important cultural events are: the Folk Festival with international participants - in August; the International Ballet Competition in August; the Love is Folly Cinema International Festival - in September; the Golden Rose Festival of Bulgarian Cinematography; The Gold Dolphin International Festival of Puppet Theatres, held every year in October. ACCOMMODATION For hotel reservations in Varna, please visit CATERING Varna's most popular luxurious and offering special cuisine restaurants are: the Indian Maharany Restaurant, Maggy Restaurant and the Moussala Restaurant with a Viennese Cafe, the Paraklisa Restaurant, the FEB Restaurant, the Morska Sirena Restaurant, a chain of restaurants Mustang Food Bar, Happy Bar and Grill chain, Loza Restaurant, Morsko Konche Restaurant, and the Galateya Restaurant. Middle class restaurants, numerous private pubs and taverns are available even in the distant residential quarters of the city. Many of them are open 24 hours, others - as long as there are clients to be serviced. For those who prefer cooking for themselves there is a large chain of supermarkets with non-stop or regular working hours. There are a lot of market places as well. The most popular one is called Kolhoz.

A lot of small pizza shops and snackbars that offer typically Bulgarian snacks such as sheeted pastries, cheese buns, dough nuts, boza (soft drink made of millet), and others. There are a great number of canteens, especially along the beach and in the Sea Garden Park where fish and seafood are offered. Every day one can buy freshly caught fish from the local fishermen at the sea station. CINEMAS AND THEATERS There are about ten cinemas functioning in Varna. Some of the best are in the city centre. Stoyan Buchvarov Theatre of Drama is open during the whole holiday season with its three stages. Varna Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra also have their performances. The Puppet Theatre is also open throughout the season. As a rule, the theatres are on holiday during the summer, but in the beginning and at the end of the summer one can see many performances from all over the world at the Theatre and the Puppet Theatre Festivals, respectively. Good foreign theatrical companies are not an unusual event for the city. They perform attractive non-verbal shows, delivered for foreign guests, especially. In the open-air theatre pop and folk stars often have concerts, shows and ballet performances also take place there.

TRANSPORT The fastest way to get to Varna is by airplane, it takes 50 min from Sofia to Varna. Varna Airport functions throughout the year. Planes in both directions fly 6 or 7 times a day during the summer. The airport phone number is +359 52 573323 The Balkan Ticket Office answers phone number +359 52 222248. The sea station provides sea buses to Balchik, Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach), Nessebar and Burgas. The railway station phone number is +359 52 630414. The phone number of the booking office is +359 52 632347. Varna is connected to all of the main railway lines in the country. There are express trains to Sofia and Plovdiv that reach for 7 and 4.30 hours respectively. Seats are limited so it is advisable to book sleeping car tickets a week before. The bus station is 1.5 km away from the city centre. Its phone number is +359 52 448349.

Buses for all the main destinations in the country start including Sofia from here. The Group Private Bus Company offers bus lines to all destinations (tel.: +359 52 256734). Buses travel to Athens and Istanbul as well as to some cities in Central and Eastern Europe. Their bus stop is in front of the cathedral. Varna's public transport offers over 60 bus lines that travel to various destinations. Some of the buses travel to the nearby resorts (20 km away from the city). There are trolley buses available in the city as well. INDUSTRY AND TRADE Varna is the third biggest industrial center in the country with busy shipping, shipbuilding and ship-repair activities. A significant part of the electronic, glass, china and faience industry, tailoring and shoe industry is concentrated in Varna district. The city provides excellent industrial infrastructure. Sensing the industrial potential of the area, many national and foreign companies have invested in the ongoing industrial projects. The hotel industry, agriculture, forestry and fishing are other important Varna industries. Major trades in Varna include service and repairing of bikes and other motor vehicles.

SURROUNDING AREAS The famous village of Vinitsa is situated 10 km north-east of Varna, where the so called Gagaouzi people live - they are Christians who speak Turkish and have very interesting customs and traditions. It is a favourite place where the citizens of Varna often go on picnics or for walks, it is also visited by a lot of tourists. The Cape Galata is very attractive to a lot of tourists who seek solitude among nature. It is situated in the distant part of the Galata Quarter. There are wide meadows among deciduous groves and natural water springs with drinking water, and rocks convenient for fishing and cockle catching. The Romantika Resort includes several hotels (tel.: +359 52 226317). It offers sports facilities for all kinds of water sports, cruises and voyages by the local water transport. Around the Asparuh Bridge near the quarter of the same name the relics of the rampart of Asparuh can be seen. The great Bulgarian ruler built them 13 centuries ago in order to resist the raids of the Byzantine fleet. To the south of the lake of Varna the Dzhanavar Hill can be visited.

A basilica from the early Christian period is built here. In the 6th century there were fortifications to resist the raids of the Avari tribe. The Pobitite Kamuni (Rammed Stones) are 18 km west of the city. They were formed by erosion about 50 million years ago. Dead cockles, sea species, and fossils are constituents of these stones, and of the sands around. Some of the stones have zoomorphic and anthropomorphic profiles. Many of them were place of worship or consecrated grounds during Thracian, Slavonic, and ancient Bulgarian times. Now they are an interesting tourist sight and a place where a lot of historic and adventure films have been made. The town of Devnya is connected by the Varna Canal with the Varna Lake. It is famous for the industrial production of soda. There are remains of the ancient town of Marcianopolis, the second biggest town in ancient Bulgaria after Philipopolis. It was a stronghold against the numerous raids of the tribe of Dacians against the Emperor Trayan. In 3rd century it was so big that it was difficult to see it even from a bird's eye.

The foundations of the defence walls, the rampart, the turrets, and the town's forum are in good condition. There are remains of other buildings as well. The Petrich Kale rises opposite the railway station of Razdelna on Varna-Sofia railway line. The fortress was built in 5th century, later on it was destroyed down and rebuilt in 13th - 14th centuries. It was an important defence fortress in 1444 during the battles of Vladislav Varnenchik. The rocks near the fortress are perfect for mountaineering. Gay Bulgaria Gay Bulgaria | Thursday, January 1st, 2009 | Comments Off on Gay Bulgaria Intro: Like many other eastern European countries, Bulgaria is in the throes of changing from a dim Soviet satellite to a free thinking-free enterprise nation of progress. Included in this shift are new laws protecting homosexuals. A drive through the countryside and some talks with LGBT folks in Sofia provided many images and insights into the old and new ways of modern Bulgaria.

(4015 words) Personal contacts Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is an old modern city of cobblestone streets and ubiquitous cafes serving coffee frappes and cappuccino–and pizza for breakfast. There are electric trolley cars, cute T-shirted guys, gypsy beggars, orthodox prelates, cell phone addicts and newspaper kiosks displaying dozens of girlie magazines—but not a single gay rag. It’s a city of grand baronial architecture and recent communist facades, stylish boutiques and ancient orthodox churches. This buzzing capital city is also an Eastern European vortex of repressive broken empires and energetic future enterprise seeking engagement in the European Union. Nouveau prosperity rides around in sporty SUVs while most others walk or take a trolley, and it’s not unusual to see a manual worker driving a horse cart downtown. It’s a city of ingrained prejudice against homosexuals and a lively, rebellious and progressive activist organization. ‘Soldier’-Head of Gemini With and without intention I encountered a small cross-section of Bulgaria’s gay society in a cozy brick-walled restaurant one evening in central Sofia. My two dinner hosts were the President of Bulgaria’s LGBT organization, Ms.

Desislava Petrov, aka ‘Soldier’, and George Georges, a lawyer–two very different members of Bulgaria’s LGBT community. Also present in the room were two ‘accidental’ gay parties–our handsome young waiter and a four-person table of two couples sitting across from us. Without fanfare or flourish, there we were, nine gay folks in a corner of Machaloto Restaurant doing what gay people do in Sofia…and Berlin, London, Budapest or Chicago: enjoying the evening with friends over chat and chatter with good food brought by an very attentive and subtle server. The evening could have been anywhere. By candlelight, among hushed tones, in no hurry, lingering over chocolate desserts and cappuccino, we shared an unworried time with polite, discreet and enjoyable comrades talking local gossip or international gay politics. The scene was remarkable in its un-remarkableness: peaceful, undisturbed and courteously treated by the restaurant staff. We paid and left, chatted a bit more, hailed a taxi and left for our hotel. Surface and Reality Our evening dinner was both an authentic moment and a deception; it was real and a pretense; a comfortable yet cautious passing.

Homosexuals in Sofia, Bulgaria are not part of the accepted social order yet there are countless legions of them/us participating in the pulse of everyday life in the post communist order of things. Behind the nice clothes, calm talk and tasty food that evening, each of those gay and lesbian citizens had stories to tell that belie the calm of modern Sofia–stories of rejection, confusion, alienation, discrimination, hiding and fear. Soldier told of being bashed by mafia-type guys one night in a bar. At knife point she suffered a concussion after bring hit by one of them. On a visit to Romania she was threatened and harassed by police for trying to help a sick friend along a sidewalk. Another lesbian friend (in Bulgaria) of hers was forced to resign from her small town teaching job because of rumors that she was gay. With no recourse or protection (she was not out to her family) she had to quit and move to Sofia where she could get support and counseling from LGBT Gemini. George, who has traveled all over Europe, added that to be seen as gay is to be seen as weak, less than a ‘full’ man.

The tradition in Bulgaria, as in most of the world, is to prove manhood by taking a wife and producing offspring. The naive opinion of most people is that gays are socially defective transvestites. "The government doesn’t have a clue about sexual orientation. The only reason they changed the law was because of the EU. They want to be seen as a European equal.” (Anti-discrimination legislation, protecting sexual minorities, was approved by the government council in 2002 and passed by the parliament in September 2003. It becomes law in January 2004.) “But changing the law doesn’t make individual gays feel more safe or brave,” he added. Social Changes Two things are happening at the same time in Bulgaria—and in other societies in modern Eastern Europe. (1) Homophobia and fear of authority are still strong. Political and religious persecution for most to the 20th century has left emotional cultural scars, in varying degrees, on most homosexuals. Most gays are closeted and fearful so they stay away from the 8 or 10 gay bars/discos in Sofia. Reflecting on this a few days later, George mused, "Gay guys are confused in their own complexity.

We all want the next cute face and body, and when we have it we are afraid of it. And when it’s gone we are even more empty.” He continued, “Deep within we look for a constant partner who can consolidate or strengthen our fragile sense of stability. Yet, we doubt he can or should be trusted fully. Plus we (mostly men) can’t resist our eternal passion for variety and keep looking around. I know there are always exceptions and some people have solid relationships. I find the word "cruising" a very fit explanation for the perplexed and, to some extent, ‘mad soul’ in us. Homosexuals are afraid of themselves (personal homophobia) and society is afraid of them as well (public homophobia)." Condom Ad "Responsibility" (2) Yet things are changing. Said Soldier in response to George’s dour cautions: "To some extent Sofia is only missing simply the (gay population) size like in Berlin. However, Bulgaria is probably one of the most westernized cultures in Eastern Europe, and for sure, the most western in the Balkans.

The women are highly emancipated here and some gays are beginning not to be afraid to be open.” “There are problems related to the general acceptance that men should marry, but that is so rapidly disappearing nowadays that i think the next few years will witness completely new sense of attitude. Example: If you just visit the largest cruising park in Sofia (Aleya Yavorov – Yavorov alley) you will see lots of young men who may actually have girlfriends. You may even see our waiter from the restaurant. His next step is entering a gay club in a year or so." This desire and readiness is also reflected in the flood of gay porno coming out of Eastern Europe. Certainly driven by money to strip down and perform for the camera, it can also be argued that there is a desire to ‘show off’ after years of repression by the communists and a decade of being a ‘second-hand’ Europe.

As George suggested playfully, "Bulgaria has, in my opinion, some of the most handsome guys in the world, but it will take sometime that the usual 10% actually realize what they really like." Gay Sofia “ Bulgaria’s capital city, Sofia, continues to attract people from the gay community, not only because it is the biggest city, offering anonymity and distance from relatives, but also because of the strong commercial gay scene (bars, clubs, discos, cruising areas). People are more ‘out of the closet’ and it is easier to find a partner. “There were some attempts to estimate the number of LGBT people in Sofia, especially gay men, but there were problems with this because of the various self-categorizations: gay; bisexuals; men having sex with men who identify as gay; men having sex with men sporadically–called ‘curious’, not identifying as gay. As a result, attempts fail to produce any accurate results.” This description of gay Sofia is from the Bulgarian LGBT Gemini web site ( ). Not unlike any major metropolitan capital city LGBT citizens pervade the entire spectrum of the culture.

From the velvet closets of wealthy elite families to the impoverished unemployed migrant worker family, queer men and women seek out contacts and mates using the sophistication of the Internet or the furtive shadows of a cruise park or the colorful late night discos. The most popular gay venue in Sofia has been Spartacus, a huge disco ‘under’ the university in the downtown area, a stone’s throw from the national Parliament. It’s along a pedestrian underpass in front of the beautiful ornate buildings of the university. It could hardly be more centrally located. There is no hiding here. Many of the locals gather mostly on weekend nights to dance and drink and be with friends and LGBT strangers. As luck would have it, the day I checked it out (in late September 2003) there was a closed sign on the door. Apparently it was undergoing some renovations and was due to reopen in October 2003 with a grand party. There are several other venues to choose from. Soldier ticked off a list of current clubs and discos that were gay or gay-friendly.

(In the past five years it has become harder to find a ‘pure’ gay place as the younger gen-y straight kids are finding the gay venues have the best music and décor.) In addition to Spartacus the other watering holes in Sofia include: Luna Lounge, Kayo’s, George, Why Not?, Flamingo, Expose, Vital-LS, and Club Amor. Places come and go so ‘check the listings’ in Bulgayria.com. Also, it’s an interesting cultural footnote that Sofia (population 900,000) has so many gay venues while Bucharest, the capital of Romania that we also visited on this trip, with a much larger population (2.2 million), only has one gay venue. One observer thought the Bulgarians were more daring and defiant of authority than the Romanians and willing to take more risks. There may be some truth to this as Romania was cowed by an evil and brutal dictator from 1965-1989. As well, the homophobic Romanian Orthodox church seems to have more influence over the people than the Bulgarian Greek Orthodox church.

George also commented, “there are around 10 gay bars in Sofia at the moment, a place with gay porno and dark rooms, and hopefully, within the next year or so Sofia can have its own gay sauna. The actual problems of opening such places in Bulgaria come from, first, the fact that you may have to deal with the mafia structures which control most of the entertainment business (and more) in Bulgaria. “ Second is the problem of profitability. Those two factors have more to do with any business undertaking and don’t necessarily relate to the acceptability of the gays. As everywhere else, there are people who are outgoing and cruise at gay bars and there are people who want to keep lower profile; those proportions vary from country to country,” Roles and positions In a later e-mailed I asked George if Bulgarian gay guys were easy to date? Are they personally/sexually flexible? Do they have hang-ups about being tops or bottoms and assuming different roles? Do they feel their attractions and love have validity worth standing up for.

(Versus countries like Cambodia or Indonesia’s Sumatra where guys feel there is no possibility for genuine gay feelings or long-term lovers.) George: "I think here many gay guys want to be on the safe side playing it "versatile". As in the US, I found out that a lot of the masculine guys would like to feel dominated, which is part of the psychology of dominism. The man is created to adore something else and in most cases we like the image of the real man. So there is nothing wrong with the muscular guys being fucked; it’s part of the game. And when it comes to love, it is usually the bottom guys who fall in love with their top partners. So there is a set-up conflict between this outward strong man image and the inward feeling of desire or need. That doesn’t feel good. It’s scary and nervous…butch images and softy feelings. And if you ask me whether I believe in love, my answer is – yes, I very much do. It is the best thing that has happened to me and is my driving force in life. I just hope one day I would be able to live with the guy I found and that both of us can recover from all the pain we have caused each other.

As rightly he has pointed out to me 6 years ago – ‘you know that I am the man of your life, don’t you? What’s better than that?’” So the struggle for intimacy is indeed a universal one that transcends tall mountains and artificial borders, within and without. I sensed there is a silent sort of harsh fragility in and around same-gender love and intimacy in former communist states. These are cultures in which human feelings were brutalized through repression and deprivation for four generations. To be individually different was to risk one’s life or one’s family’s safety. From such emotional ashes trust is slow to rekindle. Self-assurance and modest feelings of entitlement (such as gay pride) are tentative. And for homosexually oriented citizens the search for security is all the more uncertain, hesitant, apprehensive—and painful. To be different now does not carry the historic threat of exile or extermination or torture but coming out today still positions one as less than normal and deserving a shove or an insult. There are plenty of dull-wits with big-fists left over from recent history that are directed against unusual people, including gypsies as well as gays.

(See Soldier’s story (#6) in Gay Romania News & Reports on this site.) Gemini—Bulgaria’s LGBT Organization Soldier’s realistic approach to the daunting task ahead is pragmatic and determined. She has committed herself to Gemini and whatever it takes to bring LGBT awareness to urban Bulgaria. From their web site: “The mission of BGO Gemini is to create a better society for LGBT in Bulgaria. The vision is a society where diversity is welcome. The main goal of BGO Gemini is to work for the social inclusion of LGBT in Bulgaria. BGO Gemini has implemented outreach projects with funds from UNAIDS and OSI Bulgaria. Currently, BGO Gemini is working on a joint Balkan Triangle project together with COC-Netherlands and ACCEPT, Romania. ”Recently, BGO GEMINI has developed regional LGBT groups in order to better respond the demands of our members and beneficiaries outside Sofia. These groups are non-formal and not official branches of the organization. This initiative of BGO Gemini was aimed at meeting with LGBT people from smaller towns in the country, since the social isolation LGBT people there face is of a higher extent as compared with the LGBT people from the capital.

BGO Gemini has support groups in Plovdiv (the second biggest city in Bulgaria), Varna (the third biggest city in Bulgaria), Gabrovo, Dobrich and Blagoevgrad Currently there is no powerful political lobby in the country which could initiate and facilitate a change in the law towards the legal recognition of same-sex partnerships. Meanwhile across the rest of Bulgaria Driving in rural Bulgaria compares well to Romania. The main roads are paved and reasonably good for driving. Cargo trucks haul goods across and out of the country, slowed occasionally by a herd of goats crossing the roads or a horse cart hauling pumpkins from the field. A common sight along the way is a decrepit Lada car huffing along at 30 MPH. We rented a car and drove through the heart of Bulgaria with no serious problems other than having to stop and translate some roads signs—Bulgaria uses the Cyrillic alphabet, similar to Russia. (Romania uses the familiar Latin alphabet so we had no directional problems.) The country is not prosperous by western standards but it has applied to join the EU in 2007 even though a good monthly salary here is only about US$170 ($140 in Romania).

I can’t help wondering how these people will provide and compete with the Germans and Brits who make ten times that amount. Most of Bulgaria’s population live an agricultural life. Throughout the countryside most farmers ride around in horse carts and hand pick their potato crops and cut their hay with a scythe. Village farm houses are neat but worn like their inhabitants. Another question about the future concerns the cheap manual labor costs of these local folks and how these might interface with the expensive high tech farming costs in the West? Hooker Looking for a Lift The roadsides present a continual carnival of people and images. On several main roads heading out of town, pretending to be hitch-hikers, numerous young women-of-the-night try to flag down willing drivers. One afternoon we came across a group of young men towing a car in a most unusual way. The car had been burned out and the hulk was upside down and hitched to a horse. They were trying to drag it on its roof to town. The horse, whose ribs I could see, did not look amused!

As well, so few tourists drive though many of the small remote villages here that we (and our shiny new rental car) sometimes became an attraction for the natives as we stopped to buy cheese or bread or pate for lunch at a small corner grocery. Dense forests cover the central mountains offering sweeping views and tight switchback roads that lead out to verdant fertile plains sprouting vegetables and grasses. The central Sredna Gora mountains offer stunning views from the high top Shipka Pass where the monumental war memorial on Mount Stoletov is situated. This stone Freedom Monument was built in the 1890’s to honor a battle in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877 when 6000 Russian and Bulgarian soldiers resisted the 27,000 Turkish Ottoman force. To access the site we climbed up the 500 (at least) steps in a luminous late-afternoon fog that enshrouded the mountain. The ascent felt like entering a mythic Wagnerian set passing carved stone soldier figures frozen in battle and topped with a muscular granite tower guarded by a huge bronze lion.

The historical myth here is enhanced by knowing that Alexander the Great, that great ruthless hero, also fought his way up the hill in 335 BC (with his boyfriend not far behind.) Other appealing cities such as Veliko-Turnovo are nestled in the lower hills with its tile-roofed antique wooden houses and Internet cafes such as the bizarre I-Net that sported fantastic (styrofoam) monsters and machines sculpted onto the ceilings. The users in these dens are mostly young guys smoking and playing violent video games online. Of course I’m too refined for such silliness and use the Net only for e-mail, perusing the NY Times and checking my diminishing bank account and rising credit card balance. Across the street is a neon-lighted casino–also filled with cigarette smoke. (It’s inescapable!). Casinos are everywhere in Bulgaria with the Bingo parlors attracting the most gamers. Tsaravets Castle Ruins Veliko also offers the Tsaravets one of Bulgaria’s most extensive medieval fortress ruins (originating from the 11th century) reminding us of the very long and chaotic history of Balkan invasions over the past three millennia.

It is a true wonder that Bulgaria kept any consistent identity through countless occupations by the Greeks, Romans, Turks, Ottomans, Austo-Hungarians, Nazis, and communists. Now finally there is a self-chosen confederacy with free Europe in the future European Union. One morning in Veliko we had a good laugh as we ate breakfast in our communist-designed hotel (it looked like a vertical harmonica). On one side of us a group of American Christian missionaries (buoyant and scrubbed) were praying over their meager breakfasts (followed by post breakfast prayers). On the other side of us was a young couple who had enjoyed the hotel for other purposes than shelter. She looked a bit ruffled in her high black boots, low cut dress and cheap hair dye–and he looked satisfied. And then there was us, two queers boys from liberal Laguna Beach, in between. Truly an odd collection of travelers viewing the sites and sounds of modern and ancient Bulgaria. As in every town and city there are the countless anonymous ugly communist-style apartment blocks where many people live in two, three or four room flats. The blocks range in height from two to twenty stories and the only interesting feature is the laundry that hangs from each balcony.

During the communist occupation thousands of handsome classical ‘western’ buildings were bulldozed to make way for the ‘workers paradise’ of socialism which included erecting these more efficient and tasteless blocks. Today they can’t be taken down of course because they house so many people but journeying across the natural beauty of Eastern Europe is marred by these egregious and ubiquitous housing projects. Bulgaria has numerous other attractive cities such as Varna and Nessibar on the Black Sea. Varna is very appealing resort city with tree-lined avenues and many umbrella-covered cafes. The magnificent cathedral on the central square is surrounded by women selling their delicately crocheted tablecloths and sweaters. One of Bulgaria’s finest archeology museums is in Varna and displays pre-grecian artifacts dating back about 6000 years. The famous 4th century BC Chalcolithic Necropolis (cemetery) was found near Varna in 1972 and contained exquisite gold carvings said to be the oldest in the world. McDonalds, of course, has invaded Bulgaria as have the major car rental agencies and countless other western companies since Bulgaria threw open it doors to western enterprise in the early 1990’s.

In virtually every city in Bulgaria the famous designer shops are open for business. However, the most popular stores by far are the ones selling mobile phones. The younger generation is addicted to them. Every town and city we visited was linked to a floating satellite somewhere and legions of young and middle age shoppers, students, mothers-with-strollers and double-breasted businessmen were all connected and having one-sided conversations that once were a sign of schizophrenia. In Plovdiv, the country’s second largest city (with one gay venue—Caligula) one can shop at Fendi, Bulgari, Polo or Calvin Klein and then grab a creamy pastry at the local bake shop or a slice of pizza. This charming city also is full of ancient roman ruins and one of them, a stunning amphitheatre overlooking the city, is still used for musical and dramatic presentations. What little discretionary money the younger generation has seems to be spent on nice clothes and jewelry. Guys especially like heavy gold and silver neck chains. Since the vast majority of these folks don’t own (can’t afford) cars they have more for personal accessories. Tourist life is cheap here.

In Plovdiv, we stayed in a four-star hotel for only $80/double and sat for an elegant four course dinner for $15 for two in the hotel’s nearly empty but elegant restaurant overlooking an ancient ruin. The appetizer was baked plums wrapped in bacon–heavenly. Plovdiv is more casual than Sofia with numerous pedestrian streets, renovated old European facades, and a picturesque center packed with cafes, fast-food shops, more ruins, trendy brand-name shops and hawkers selling all kinds of touristy kitsch or paperback books or ice cream or religious icons. During the warm season there are nightly open-air concerts, sometimes two or three. Life, at least the evening life, appears cheerful and bright and easy. Of course on the fringes, as always, gypsy beggars can be seen looking for small change and indigents fade into the night shadows with their bags of pickings. Back to Sofia Sofia is the core city of Bulgaria. It’s central area was fortunately mostly spared from the bulldozer mentality of the communists.

As a result a walk-about takes in the former king’s palace, the elegant president’s office building (where we watched the hunky honor guards in white and red jackets change on the hour), an ancient 15th century church that’s now an impressive archeology museum, a sprawling university, an inspiring cathedral that arches toward the sky as well as modern pieces such as the classy Sheraton Hotel fronted by numerous outdoor cafes serving pizza for breakfast by cute waiters—well, some of them at least. Speaking of which, we had another good laugh at a huge billboard ad for KFC chicken downtown. The blow-up image depicts several young women surrounding a handsome man seated and holding a bucket of fried chicken in his lap. The cruisy women are all ogling his ‘basket’ of hot food. Surely the ad designer–gay or straight– knew what he was doing. Several kilometers outside the center is the National History Museum housed in an enormous former communist mansion. Once in a while the socialists built well and this museum is an impressive mix of horizontal and vertical lines fashioned from hardwoods and cement; it would not displease Frank Lloyd Wright. Artifacts here date to the seventh millennia BC.

Sofia Cathedral at Night We also stopped in to see Sofia’s only synagogue built in 1909. It reeks of age and muscular beauty having been restored in recent years. The central golden chandelier hangs from a high delicately painted dome. There is a feeling of dark yet colorful warmth to the interior. As non-Jewish visitors we looked quite fabulous in our white yarmulkes. In the foyer of the synagogue we purchased a stamped post card with a photo of the late deputy parliament speaker Dimitar Peshev who first alerted the Romanian leaders of the impending deportation of Jews in 1943 and whose action forced King Boris to protect (most, not all) Romanian Jews against the Nazi orders. We also bought a similar post card of the late Orthodox Patriarch Stephan who was also instrumental in saving the Jews. He threatened to lie on the rail tracks before he would allow any such prisoner train to leave Bulgaria. The Future Bulgarian National Flag Bulgaria may appear from the outside to be a quiet stepsister state to the bustling rush of Western Europe but from inside this rural yet developing land an insistent generation is moving into place.

To be sure, many attitudes and ideas about governance and morality are laden with heavy conservative socialistic attitudes exercised by some obtuse authorities. Yet as the forces of modern Europe have urged them forward, these same leaders have, to their credit, chosen to open Bulgaria further thus submitting to the progressive social and economic policies required by EU membership. The challenge and strain will not be easy. Prices will rise and jobs will be lost. Already international companies have set up business: Renault has taken ownership of the sagging Lada car company. New laws are testing the will of this conservative nation to accommodate such alien considerations as homosexuality, not just in formal legal statutes but also as LGBT citizens become more audible and visible. The gay movement is a small voice at the moment but with wholly-committed activists like Soldier that little sound will grow to a respectable chorus over the next ten years. As she said in her story: "I started working at first voluntary with the Gemini and for the cause and I felt that this is the mission of my life. After almost three years I’m still here and working for the cause. I’m president of the organization and I’m proud of myself.

Of course there are still a lot of things that should be changed here in our country but after being here and involving more and more people to help me in the work I feel better and secure for our future and the future of our children." The Next Generation–Waiting Tens of Thousands Attend Bulgarian Socialist Fest - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency Tens of Thousands Attend Bulgarian Socialist Fest Politics » DOMESTIC | July 31, 2016, Sunday // 10:33| Views: 7535 | Comments: 0 Send to Kindle Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Korneliya Ninova at the Buzludzha events on Saturday, July 30, 2016. Photo: BGNES As many as 50 000 reportedly joined the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP)'s leadership at the historic venue of Mount Buzludzha, the party itself estimates. The meeting comes amid a leadership change, with Korneliya Ninova having become the first woman to take over the party in April.

Addressing a crowd of cheering supporters, Ninova asserted her party would work with an alliance of left-wing organizations against the candidate of GERB, the country's senior government partner and the biggest parliamentary force, at the presidential elections. Ninova did not announce the name of a candidate, according to daily 24 Chasa. Supporters wore hats marked by the hashtag "АзСъмБСП", a Bulgarian-language version of #IAmBSP, a slogan that has sparked controversy among the public due to the party's mixed record as heir to totalitarian Bulgarian Communist Party. In 1891 on Mount Buzludzha the foundations of the Socialist Movement in Bulgaria were laid. Erected at the site and unveiled in 1981 on the occasion of the 1300th anniversary of the founding of the Bulgarian State, the monument resembles a UFO and is an easy target of jokes both home and abroad.

Tengelmann to Sell Plus Discount Stores in Bulgaria, Romania - Report - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency Tengelmann to Sell Plus Discount Stores in Bulgaria, Romania - Report Business | January 8, 2010, Friday // 15:50| Views: 4191 | Comments: 0 Send to Kindle Lidl plans to launch its business in Bulgaria in spring 2010. Photo by EPA/BGNES German retailer Tengelmann is in talks to sell its discount retail chains in Romania and Bulgaria to its rival Lidl, which is part of Germany's Schwarz retail group, according to reports. Tengelman, the parent company of Plus, owns 94 and 16 stores in Romania and Bulgaria respectively. The news comes on the heels of reports that Lidl has indicated interest in acquiring the Bulgarian business of its German competitor Plus retail chain. In 2007 and 2008 Plus sold its business in most European countries. For the last several years the chain has been active in Austria, Romania and Bulgaria, with divisions in those countries in May 2008 united under the name of Plus Eastern Europe.

According to realtors the economic crisis in the past year has proved fertile for the discount retailers stepping on Bulgarian soil in recent months and the country will see their boom in 2010. Three food discount chains are currently operating in Bulgaria; Kaufland, Penny Market and Plus. Kaufland is a part of the Swartz Group which also owns Lidl. It is a soft discounter that entered the Bulgarian market in 2006 in Plovdiv. Now it is strongly positioned on the market with more than 26 hypermarkets. Penny Market (Rewe Group) is another German soft discounter with an aggressive growth strategy for Bulgaria.

Question: Plovdiv and Varna are respectively the second and third biggest cities in which European country?
Answer: Bulgaria